Members of the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) yesterday occupied Fianna Fáil party headquarters in Dublin, as part of a day-long series of protests to highlight its concerns about the registration fee, grants and cutbacks in third-level funding.
The protest followed a march from Dáil Eireann to the Department of Finance and PD and Fianna Fáil headquarters. About 150 students took part in the initial protest, which coincided with another in Cork.
According to the deputy president of USI, Mr Rory Hearne, one of those inside the Fianna Fáil offices, the decision to occupy the building was taken to underline Fianna Fáil's poor track record in funding education.
Speaking in Cork, the USI president, Mr Ben Archibald, said the recent OECD report on the future funding of higher education here had clearly illustrated the lack of funding for third-level education here.
However, the Minister for Education and Science, Ms Hanafin, criticised USI's decision to occupy party offices rather than seek to explain their grievances to her directly.